What they said: Darrell Bevell

Here’s some of what Seahawks offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell had to say to the media today:

Onthe challenge that the Rams’ defense presents for the Seahawks: “Yeah it’s a solid defense. I mean the last two games that we’ve played against them last year; they gave us a big challenge. So we have to be up to the task. They have a really solid rush, they have good, solid line backing core, good guys in the secondary that we have to make sure that we’re sharp against or they can hurt us. So it’s a solid defense. I mean it’s an NFL defense and the biggest thing that I’m worried is obviously the pass rush.”

On if the Rams’ pass rush is as varied as Arizona’s pass rush: “They have some different fronts. They have not, up to this point, pressured as much as Arizona did. They have a pressure package, but not as much as Arizona had.”

On if there is a balance between Russell Wilson scrambling around and Wilson protecting the football: “Yeah I would say it’s the same as what he does when he’s running with the football. We want him to make smart decisions, we want him to make smart decisions when he’s getting out of bounds or when he’s going down, how much is enough and when to give up the play. It’s really the same thing in the pocket. There are times where… I mean he’s such a good escape artist that good things happen to him, most of the time. He needs to understand when it’s a dead play and when he needs to make sure that he’s protecting the football. I mean always, we’ll emphasize in protecting it. But there are times where it’s like, ‘Okay. That’s probably all I can do with this one. I got to make sure that I save the ball.’”

On the impact of Zach Miller: “It’s huge. He’s a great player for us and then to be able to jump in the game and have the impact that he did have was big for us. But when he wasn’t in there, I mean the other guys did fine. I mean Luke [Willson] had a nice game for us as well. But Zach [Miller] just brings a lot of experience for us. We ask him to do some different things and he showed up big.”

On if starting the game fast the last two road games is a sign of maturity for the Seahawks: “I think it’s been a conscious effort to try to improve our start. I mean we finished well and kind of get into a flow later. We’ve made a good effort to try to get started. There’s some new pieces in there that we’re tinkering around with as well. So it’s always important. I mean up to this point, we haven’t not tried to start fast. We’re trying to score every single drive. But in the last few weeks, we’ve been able to get on a pretty good roll early and then kind of be able to continue it. I don’t know if it’s a sign of maturing or not. The five offensive linemen that have been there the last couple of games have played a little bit more together. Maybe that’s helping. But, I don’t know if it’s maturing or not.”

On Zach Miller: “He’s a big part of us. He really opens up the middle of the field for us and gives us a good, experienced guy in there. Not that Luke [Willson] can’t do it because Luke [Willson] has done a nice job. But, he just really has the experience, the savvy, the feel in there, and the quarterback has been with him long enough over the year, last year and this year, that he trusts him. And he came up with some big third down conversions and a big touchdown catch.”

On Harvin’s role on the Seahawks’ offense: “Well I’m not sure what his role going to be yet. I mean I know what we’d like him to do, I know what he brings. He brings explosiveness, he brings quickness, he brings toughness, he runs the ball outstanding, he’s going to be huge for us in the kicking game. So you want to have the ball in his hands. So that’s about all I could say to it until we find out how much he’s going to be out there, what we can do with him, all the different places we can put him, how much retention he’s going to have. All of that is just going to continue to build on itself, once we know when he’s going, how much he can go, and that kind of thing.”

On Harvin being good at making plays on short pass plays and turning them into bigger plays: “I mean he’s a gifted player. I mean he’s a very gifted athlete. I mean one, like I said, he’s got great quickness so he can make guys miss. He’s got great toughness, he runs like Marshawn [Lynch] once he has the ball. So he can run through people. He can run around people, he can make people miss, and all of those things together help him make those big plays.”

On what would it would take for Harvin to convince Coach Bevell that he is 100% healthy, given that he knows Harvin so well:“Well according to what he’s had, I mean he’s had some soreness for a while. So I can’t wait to see him at a hundred percent because I’ve seen him. It’s been pretty special. But it’s nothing to do with me. The trainers and the doctors are the ones that are going to tell us when he’s ready to go, full go, full speed, all the time. And, it’s probably going to be a process where we are going to have to build up his conditioning, build up his strength, all those things. It’s not going to be something where he’s going to go out there and play 70 plays in one game. We’re going to have to kind of build him up to it and whenever that starts, we’re starting it now in practice. You know, just building him slowly through practice and then we will continue it through games and then the next week and then next week until he can go all the time.”

On if he believes that Harvin understands the Seahawks’ offensive playbook: “Well I mean I think he has a good understanding of what we’re trying to do. I think he knows play calls, he knows how to line up; he knows those kind of things. But there’s just little intricate details, week in and week out, that we change. So there’s very few guys that cannot practice at all and go out and execute, at a high level. So we want him out there, he’s going to need the reps, he’s going to need to line up in practice, he’s going to see the looks from the defense that we’re presenting to him. Again, it’s a whole process that he’s going to have to go through. So he kind of knows the kindergarten level of one plus one is two, this is where I go, and this is kind of what I run. But, there’s so much more to it because we change it each and every week.”